Is 20/50 vision bad? | Reference.com Is 20/50 vision bad? A: Quick Answer A person with 20/50 vision is considered to have visual impairment, according to WebMD. Individuals with 20/50 visual acuity can see an object clearly at 20 feet away that individuals with normal vision can see clearly at 50 feet away. Full Answer Those with 20/20 visual acuity are defined as having normal vision, according to All About Vision. In general, to obtain a driver's license in the United States, a person must have a visual acuity of 20/40 or better. This can include the use of glasses or contact lenses. A person with a visual acuity of 20/200 or worse with the use of glasses or contacts is considered legally blind. A visual acuity of 20/10 or better indicates excellent vision, although very few people possess it. Doctors use eye charts to determine visual acuity, according to All About Vision. One common eye chart, the Snellen eye chart, depicts 11 rows of uppercase letters.

Each row of letters becomes progressively smaller toward the bottom of the chart. Visual acuity is measured by determining the smallest line of letters that an individual can read. The "tumbling E" eye chart is a different eye chart that is commonly used for young children or other individuals who are unable to read or recognize letters. Visual Acuity: What is 20/20 Vision? Visual Acuity: What is 20/20 Vision? Visual Acuity FAQs 20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. If you have 20/100 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet. Having 20/20 vision does not necessarily mean you have perfect vision. 20/20 vision only indicates the sharpness or clarity of vision at a distance.

Other important vision skills, including peripheral awareness or side vision, eye coordination, depth perception, focusing ability and color vision, contribute to your overall visual ability. Some people can see well at a distance but are unable to bring nearer objects into focus. This condition can be caused by hyperopia (farsightedness) or presbyopia (loss of focusing ability). Others can see items that are close but cannot see those far away. This condition may be caused by myopia (nearsightedness). A comprehensive eye examination by a doctor of optometry can diagnose what is affecting your ability to see well. In most cases, your optometrist can prescribe glasses, contact lenses or a vision therapy program that will help improve your vision. If the reduced vision is due to an eye disease, you may be prescribed ocular medication or another treatment. Get Connected ODs: Learn how to leverage local media to promote your practice and profession 6 hours ago What Does 20/20 Mean? What Does 20/20 Mean? What Does 20/20 Vision Mean? Vision Testing Visual acuity is usually measured with a Snellen chart. Snellen charts display letters of progressively smaller size.

"Normal" vision is 20/20. This means that the test subject sees the same line of letters at 20 feet that person with normal vision sees at 20 feet. 20/40 vision means that the test subject sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 40 feet. Another way of saying this is that a person with 20/40 vision has vision that is only half as good as normal - or, objects must be at half the normal distance for him to see them. A person with 20/20 vision is able to see letters 1/10th as large as someone with 20/200 vision. 20/20 is not the best possible eyesight however, for example, 20/15 vision is better than 20/20. A person with 20/15 vision can see objects at 20 feet that a person with 20/20 vision can only see at 15 feet. Levels of Vision 20/20 - Normal vision. Fighter pilot minimum.

Required to read the stock quotes in the newspaper, or numbers in the telephone book. 20/40 - Able to pass Driver's License Test in all 50 States. Most printed material is at this level. 20/80 - Able to read alarm clock at 10 feet. News Headlines are this size. 20/200 - Legal blindness. Able to see STOP sign letters. Your Prescription The refractive error of the eye can be expressed in numeric terms. The power of the lenses necessary to correct your vision is measured in units called diopters (see below). The first number designates the amount of myopia (minus numbers) or hyperopia (plus numbers). The second number (if present), indicates the amount of astigmatism. The third number shows the axis of the astigmatism. Depending on the sign of the second number, the axis indicates the orientation of the steepest or flattest meridian of the cornea. The fourth number is the "add," or the amount of magnification needed to give clear vision at near. If this number is present, bifocals have been prescribed to correct presbyopia. What is a Diopter?

A diopter is a unit of measurement of the refractive error. It may be a negative number (myopia, nearsightedness), or a positive number (hyperopia, farsightedness). A -1.00 diopter myope is able to see objects at 1 meter clearly. A -2.00 diopter myope is able to see objects at a ½ meter clearly. The greater the myopia, the greater the strength of the lens in diopters needed to correct the refractive error, and the closer an object must be to be viewed clearly. ©2017 EyeCare Associates of East Texas 2440 East 5th Street What is Vision? Is "20/20" Really Enough? What does your optometrist mean when he or she says you are seeing “20/20”? It means that when standing at a distance of 20 feet from the eye chart, you can see the same row of letters that the average person can see at this distance.

If you have 20/50 vision, for example, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 50 feet. Visual acuity is often measured according to the size of letters viewed on a Snellen chart, which is a measure of the sharpness of sight. However, it does not tell you anything about how your brain is processing what you see. The visual system is so complicated, it utilizes 65% of ALL our brain pathways. “20/20" eyesight represents only a very small part of this process. In fact, there are over 20 different skills visual skills that an eye chart does not detect, abilities learned and developed from our experiences interacting with our environment since birth. Experience is vital to vision development. It is important to differentiate between the terms “sight” and “vision”. “Sight” is the ability to see and the eye’s response to light shining into it. “Vision” is the ability to interpret and understand information that comes through the eyes. Take the clear, though slightly overexposed, picture below. Are you able to tell what animal this is a picture of?

What if I said it was a cow? Even though the picture is not blurry, without a framework to work within, it is often difficult to extract meaning from the picture. Once you are told it is a cow, now the eyes know what to look for. (If you still have difficulty, try placing your mouse over the picture to show you an outline of the cow). The visual system is a significant part of how we process information and a key factor in how we learn. 80% of what you perceive, comprehend and remember depends on the efficiency of the visual system. A more comprehensive definition of vision is a dynamic process of identifying, organizing, interpreting and understanding what is seen. Vision is a process that integrates sensory and motor information generated by the brain and body to derive meaning and direct movement. Vision is a learned skilled and developed over time, just like walking and talking. It is learned over time from birth (and arguably earlier) on up by our experiences and how we react and solve problems. The visual skills we learn early on provide the foundation for later visual complexities. Any weak link in the visual process can affect the outcome, especially if the visual system is under stress.

Think of having the right machine, such as a car, but not knowing how to really use it. In order to make the car more useful, you have to figure out how to coordinate all the levers, knobs and pedals. When you first learn, you concentrate more on the mechanics of driving a car rather than enjoying the ride. As it becomes more of an automatic skill, you get to the point where you can have a conversation, eat and navigate with ease. The visual process is much the same way. You may have two eyes, but learning how to coordinate them together and interpret the information coming in takes skill and practice. Individuals with an inefficient system tend to concentrate more on the mechanics of making it work. For individuals with efficient visual systems, these skills are automatic and they are free to concentrate on the task as hand, such as reading comprehension.

Basically, we use vision to guide motor behavior, like catch a ball; interpret space and time, like when we give directions and say "it will take 10 minutes if we turn left at the light coming up in two blocks"; store and recall visual information so you can do things like remember where your keys are because you can "see" them on the dresser; and integrate information from our other senses (hearing, touch, taste and smell) like when we see a picture of popcorn we can actually taste and smell popcorn. This allows us to think, understand and react to the world around us. Vision allows us to take what we see and process this light information so we can - Identify what we see by where it is, how far away it is, how big it is, how fast it is moving, what texture it has, etc. Store this current information for future retrieval. Integrate the sight information with all our other senses - touch, hearing, taste and smell. Compare this information to previously stored information in order to confirm prior experience or reconstruct a prior experience if necessary. Derive meaning from both the new information and past information. Decide the relationship between where we are and where it is, or find out where we are in space.

Act on this new meaning. Use this new perception to direct movement or thought. Visual skills are important in academic performance. Vision is there every step of the way when you learn and process information. If vision does not develop efficiently, even a bright child can have difficulties with reading, writing, spelling and math. Getman, a renowned behavioral optometrist, stated,"Vision is the dominant mode in the development of intelligence." The more efficient a person is, the higher their score on many intelligence tests. This is why IQ scores can change after vision remediation. We gain the ability to understand and interpret what we see correctly and efficiently as we integrate and utilize the information we gather, learn from it and modify this information by experience. If one or more of these skills are deficient, then the signal through the visual pathway may not be as clear as it could be. This can cause difficulty with learning or performing various tasks, such as reading. One out of four children has a vision problem which interferes with their ability to learn efficiently and achieve in school. Since 75-90% of classroom learning comes through the visual system, poor visual skills can affect a child's performance. Why?

It takes more energy to use a faulty visual system than it does an efficient one. So why is it that some individuals fair better in school than others when they have similar visual inefficiencies? Think about the following analogy: Having poor visual skills is like filling a glass of water using a spoon with one or more holes in it. A child may know how to do the task set before them and be a very physically and mentally capable child, but are not able to do the task as well as the child sitting next to them with a regular spoon. A very motivated child may still fill the glass full of water, but it will take more time and effort than a child with a spoon without any holes. Another child may become frustrated and give up or may fill some of the glass every once in awhile if they have more energy that day. The problem is most kids do not know they have a faulty spoon and neither do their parents or teachers. Why do these children not get identified in school? Most school screenings only check how clear a child sees in the distance. Unfortunately, most of the kids impacted by inefficient visual skills pass this type of school screening. The children who fail school screenings actually tend to be the high achievers in the classroom.

It is suggested that if you suspect ADD, you should also get a comprehensive vision evaluation. Visual signs and symptoms often mirror Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). In fact, 15 out of the 18 signs and symptoms used to diagnose ADD are the same as visual inefficiency problems. For instance, if you have trouble with your visual focus, or actually making the words clear for a long period of time, it is more difficult to keep your attentional focus on them. Vision Problems Can Be Remediated Treatment for inefficient visual skills can be in the form of lenses, developmental guidance or an individualized vision therapy treatment program. Vision therapy re-organizes neural pathways by building new synapses, thereby affecting the patterning of the brain. According to the California Department of Youth Authority, 70% of juvenile delinquents tested have vision problems affecting learning. When optometric vision therapy was performed on incarcerated youths, recidivism reduced from 45% to 16% at the Regional Youth Education Facility in San Bernardino, CA. The best way to treat a problem is to prevent it before it occurs.

A developmental vision problem can be diagnosed during the pre-school years and can often be corrected before the child enters school, though it is never too late to treat. Children do not grow out of vision problems. Children with vision problems become adults with vision problems. The Vision Council of America and the American Optometric Association recommends that children’s vision be examined before the age of 1, again at age 3 and 5 or before starting school. Thereafter, everyone should receive an annual exam. Remember, not all eye care professionals emphasize the function of vision. You want to be tested for both “eyesight” and “vision” to determine not only eye health, how clear you see and if you need glasses, but how efficient your visual system is working. Ask your eyecare professional if they evaluate at least the following visual skills: Eye tracking (eye movement control) Focusing near to far Sustaining clear focus up close Eye Teaming Ability How to Budget Your Money: The 50/20/30 Guideline ← Older Comments OcsarGrouch This is so unrealistic!!

A) 22-year-olds do not make $36K straight of college and would be hard-pressed to find an apartment in Chicago for $700. A couple earning $150K is certainly not paying a $2,000 mortgage. A large part of America pays over 2/3 of their income towards mortgages, rents and are unlikely to be able to sock away the amount suggested here for savings. Missouri My daughter got 50k right out of college as a nurse and my son got 40k. Mid west. A lot of people I know paid 1x salary for house and a number of others paid 1.5x Assume they paid 225k for house but put down 20% so 180k loan at 4.5% with 1% in prop tax and say 70/mo in insurance. So 1100 per mo. In Midwest, that is very nice large new home. Say you got a nice one for 180k with 40k down but on 15 year Spgfld Tom Ms. Shin maybe assuming that everyone has taxpayer subsidized ObamaCare.

FYI: my Comcast bill (cable and internet) is $165. Only the rates on my non-taxpayer subsidized health insurance rise faster. I’m sure Ms. Shin realizes that employers will be dropping their health insurance benefits (Obama just postponed the “employer mandate” part of the law until after the mid-term elections). Missouri He is assuming they get corporate medical and the part you pay is taken out before you get the take home. Mandi I don’t think you all are in the real world. I bring home 2600 a month and raising my grandson who is 16. My utilities are 178.00 for electricity (budgeted amount with AEP in WV) which at the end of the year I barely break even! 69.00 for WV American Water and 60 for sewer which is separate! The water bill is ridiculous – sometimes it is less than more and I use the same amount each month! Car insurance on a nearly 3 year old chevy aveo 163.00 a month and I have a perfect driving record! The reason it is 163 is my credit score is 625.

I had some set backs due to health and caused my credit score to drop which makes a person like me have to pay higher interest and higher insurance, etc. it is sad. Car payment 288.00 a month, gas to work each month (I drive 45 miles ONE WAY 5 days a week which averages around 90-100 miles a day including weekends. $350.00 a month (our gas averages 3.50-3.69 a gallon!) 150.00 a month for 4 small limit credit cards; 400 for groceries/includes shampoo, washing detergents, toothpaste, deodorant, toilet tissue/paper towels, etc. cleaners, gas to mow my grass(costs 22.00 to fill a 5 gallon gas can which lasts about a month).

Lunch at work averages 4.00 a day, eat breakfast at home, dinner at home, 150.00 a month going into savings, 7.99 Netflix, 10.29 xbox membership, 93.00 direct tv which began at 49.00 for 1 year and then went to 93.00- am trying to get it lower without sacrificing channels I like, 160.00 a month for a personal loan which I am trying to get paid off, 191.00 for health insurance for myself, misc. on clothing for myself and grandson and other misc. costs averages 100.00 a month, 300 for car maintenance a year! (includes tires, etc), household items such as light bulbs, repairs on plumbing, appliances, etc. 65.00 a month, I have no rent. Doctor bills that insurance does not cover runs around 100 a month (am a diabetic). I know I am missing other bills but this is the real world. Utilities in WV are outrageous and the utility companies are trying to get another RAISE!

Personal property tax runs 293.00 a year to get the tag to my vehicle which runs 30.00 a year and I live in a very old mobile home! I don’t go out much at all and as far as recreation goes, About 3 times a year I go to the movie theater, I walk my son’s dog in the evenings for exercise. I can’t comprehend how minimum wage people make it, especially if they have kids! Westviking you’ve got a girl with $675 a month for food, clothes, books, etc., and you think she’s going to be able to save money? how? that’s $170 a week. $25 a day. Mz V It’s actually extremely simple you have to adjust the rule to fit you. I’m a single mom of 3 kids one who has a disability, I get no government assistance and sometimes I may get child support. This is how I apply it to fit me. Take home pay after deductions when I don’t get child support $3,280.

Expenses including rent,gas,light,internet,cable,home phone, cellphone, car note car insurance, renter’s insurance, alarm monitoring, Afterschool care for 3 kids. “Fixed Expenses” $2,367, Deduct $2,367 from $3,280 I’m left with $913.00. So expenses are more than 50% percent, but I then apply the 20% part of the rule 20% of $913.00 is $182.60 which leaves me with $730.40 for food, gas, toiletries, and other expenses. So I will put the $182.60 aside and try to work with the $730, one month it works and another month I have to dig into the $182 but when I do that whatever is left of $182 be it $5 or $180 goes to savings.

When I do get child support my income increases by $700 dollars, and I do the same process , Income$3,280+700=3,980 Income minus Fixed expenses $3,980-$2,367=1,613 Left over apply 20% rule Leaves $322 for savings and $1,291 for discretionary expenses, here I can actually save 20%, and have extra money. It’s not easy takes a lot of discipline, but I have managed to pay all my debt, I only have my car note, my kids want for nothing, and have every need met and more. We never ever go the movies and spend $60 for tickets, we go to the drive in and grill there so we don’t spend money on take out. We go to the county parks with aquatic centers vs water parks, we wait for sales, cut coupons, do our math before we walk out the door and yes they have brand new clothes every 3-4 months name brand but bought on sales and with discounts. We even have a dog that’s get groomed at the pet store for $60 bucks every 2 months.

I can never get my nails done at the salon but we have spa day at the house. We read a lot of books, on kindle, unlimited so for 9 bucks a month we have all the “IN” books. Food we learned to go every 4 days to the store and buy only what is needed for the meals, and at the end of the month whatever is left of food budget goes to snacks for them chips cookies pretzels we buy them in bulk and last them about 3-4 weeks they have learned to differentiate wants from needs, to share and to work together, It’s not easy but doable you have to be willing to put the work and effort in. I work Overtime every time it’s offered at work, walk to the grocery store sometimes to save gas, bring lunch to work. Make extra money babysitting on days off, sometimes I offer to carpool the neighbor kids and they chip in with the gas. Excuses and complaining don’t get you nowhere. J. 10% for tithe? Ally Smith $135 on utilities including power, gas, water, phone and internet?

And are we including even basic cable in there somewhere – or is that included in the $75 a month for ‘subscriptions’? I can’t even get my power/water/gas bill under $135 without phone and internet. That isn’t even REMOTELY a realistic number. Missouri It is for an apt. Know a guy who pays 45 av. For electrical which is only thing not included in rent. That includes heat and air in the electrical but. He is an inner apt with one window so pretty insulated. 80 for basic phone and internet. High speed internet, cell and cable are all discretionary. Ann I love the $275 “fantasy” figure for utilities for Sarah and Tim and their two children! Unless they live off the grid and don’t heat or cool the home with the $2,000 mortgage or pay for water and sewer there is no way that amount could include utilities as well as phone, internet and cable!

Missouri Well, we have 2600 sq ft and we insulated and had high efficiency heating and cooling and put in special bulbs so we have about 200 for basic utils but Internet is 40 and we don’t do cable but do roku and netfix so now 250. I assume cell would be discretionary so with 40 for phone that is 290. Since they have 2000 vs 2600 then possible. Huge savings from doit yourself insulation and the light low energy life bulbs. Katherine Alexander $135.00 for utilities, including phone and internet?? Missouri I know a guy in a small apt that pays 45 for utils including heating and cooling. Water is part of rent. 75 for basic internet and phone. So very possible. Problem is most people are saying high speed internet cost and cell phones are basic when they are discretionary. Jootmo Sorry, but when we refuse to make giving a priority we become even more self-focused. I encourage everyone to make giving/donating 5%-10% off the top of your paycheck your first priority.

If the majority of us would do this, the government wouldn’t have to have such a big part in helping people. I’d rather give directly to help someone rather than the government taxing me and then deciding (often wrongly) how to “help” someone. SuwanneeSum1 Insurance? Joe D Break the 20% long term financial goals down to 80% for accumulation and 20% for insurance such as life, disability income and if you’re over 45 long term care insurance. It is most important to protect what you already have. Your health and ability to earn an income are usually more valuable than all your possessions. JAB I don’t understand the attacking of this article, it’s a guideline to set up a budget, some of you people are so angry and attack the article. maybe you should set up a budget on what you owe based on you income. e123 The utility estimates are way way off. I have a small house and am on a family plan for my cell phone and my total monthly utilities are over $350. That couple with 2 teenagers are going to spend a lot more, even if the teens pay for their own cell phones.

A budget isn’t helpful if it’s not realistic. Also, for the single girl living in Chicago with rent and utilities so low she must have at least one roommate. kittysmom I find it totally unbelievable that Molly only pays $135 for utilities that include phone and internet service. Makes the rest of the story unbelievable, too. Not at all realistic. Stephanie My utility expenses per month are $22 for electricity, $25 for a cell phone, and $40 for internet. Other utilities are covered with my rent. And in my previous apartment, the rent included internet. And for the other complainers, I spend less than $200 a month on groceries and that includes alcohol. Why don’t you all have a little optimism in life? Of course not everything is rosy but it’s a hell of a lot easier to dig yourself out of a hole when you think you can. somemomsomewhere or children Mom of 3 i have three children and all three are in some type of child care (daycare for the infant and after care for the two in school), i can barely make ends meet. let’s see a scenario for that.

Tater Salad Where are credit cards and other debt in your examples? I.E, credit card pmts, private school tuition (7th grade), food/groceries, pet care. Should these be under fixed? Stan I realize Molly has a low income, but Sarah and Tim don’t. No where in this is there any mention of charitable giving. To us, $36,000 is “low income” but compared to the world, it puts you in the upper 10%. And “poor” people give a higher percentage of their income than “rich” do. It’s really disappointing that there is no mention of charitable giving in these budgets. I think this “investment advisor” may be one of the ones who knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing. Ghost of Jam Master Jay Hi Stan, If you are serious about charitable giving, I can give you my address. I understand your point, but many responsible people make much more than Molly and are barely treading water. Simply put, the cost of living is skyrocketing compared to real wage growth in this country. Stan I am serious about charitable giving….I have been giving away half of my income every year for several years.

What makes YOU think you are more worthy to receive my giving than children in Cambodia? Dan Lombardo Where is Electric and other Utilities — $275 a month including Phone, TV and Internet — That’s a laugh — Cable at least $125, House phone at least $50 more, cell for two, roughly $175, (add to that if their kids have phones) internet another $50 (at least) — That is $400 without stretching — Electric could easily be $150 on up — Safe to say in a large Family Home with Kids, conservative $200 — Water and Sewer maybe as much as $50 more — We are at $650 without even trying — NO ONE I know could even begin to think $275 for all of this — Plus, there are other potential costs not listed — HOA? Other Utilities like Fuel Oil — Come on and get real — Fantasy Budget for a Fantasy World… . More like a Grand a Month for a safe conservative bet on “Utilities”. Depending on where they live, this could be higher… .

Comment4321 Cut the cable and home phone, get two prepaid cell phone plans for $20 per month total. I just saved you $4,000 per year. Anita Gummer Your example for Molly was the closest to my own situation, however no student loan is 150/mo. The student loans are absolutely drowning me with a payment of 420/mo. It is impossible to save especially when i have bi weekly paychecks and constant overdraft fees that keep me living paycheck to paycheck. Trying to break into full time employment for a career puts a second job off the table. What do i do when it costs me about 72% of my income just for necessary bills? (Not including living expenses, groceries etc.)? Chris Moore I am a recent graduate. What happens when with the 50/20/30 rule when the total of your school loans take up the entire 20% of your income? a_low It’s a “guideline” – so you can tailor it your needs. Add Healthcare as an expense item on your budget if you see fit. Alternatively, you can open up an FSA which would be deducted pre-tax.

So you would essentially only care about your take-home pay (after tax) and your FSA covers medical expenses (beyond what’s already taken out as a healthcare tax). Ron Richardson A great job of setting out a clear step by step path. Most people don’t have a clue as to how much they SHOULD have left at the end of the month (if any). Finding that number is the focus of our own budget described The peace of mind of knowing where you stand is awesome. coytle I need a new job. 71% of my income goes to fixed bills that I can’t change… Yay high cost of living in Seattle! Sarah I know this article is two years old, but $36,000 a year as a 22 year old college graduate? I find that incredibly hard to fathom. Comment4321 The median income for new college grads is about $45k. Megan Lim What dreadful advice. You are seriously advocating spending 80% of take-home pay?

When I first saw the headline for 50/20/30 I was thinking it would be something bold like 50% savings, 20% taxes, 30% spending or something like that. Saving only 9% for retirement you are setting yourself up to have to work for 50+ years: So….what happens when my husband and I are paying $1305/month for our student Loans??? Dave Weitz First of all, I just discovered LearnVest yesterday. I’m loving the information. Thank you!! Second, I have a little confusion: I’ve read several articles in your budget section. Some writers put “groceries” in fixed or essential expenses; others put groceries in the “flexible” category. I’m thinking that LearnVest says they are a “flexible” expense but I’m not sure. Is it LearnVest’s assertion that because my grocery may vary from month to month, it is a flexible expense? Thanks in advance for the answer… and thanks for all you’ve provided here. Ghost of Jam Master Jay Hi Dave, I don’t represent LearnVest in any way, but I think it’s wise to consider groceries as a fixed expense.

You’re going to eat, right? Personally, I try to find a reasonable estimate for my groceries and gas, and consider it a fixed cost. It’s not always 100% accurate, but if you overestimate slightly you can protect yourself from overspending. Paul Bansal WOW! This is an amazing article. I too champion Financial Literacy. Would it be ok if I used some of the tools you use on my site, knowhowcreditworks.com? Ashley Tara Man, I gotta find out how Molly only has a $150 student loan payment. I pay $350 every month – and that’s just the minimum! Ghost of Jam Master Jay Molly is paying the bare minimum, thereby ensuring she makes payments plus interest forever. Probably not wise financial planning in the long run. Mitch Vincent Why are student loan debts considered a financial goal and not a fixed monthly expense? There isn’t an option to repay them, it is a constant monthly expense.

Thanks, Mitch Truth Teller Actually, most of those showing up in ERs were not “teabagger’s” (to use your pejorative term) but rather young liberals who won’t pay for insurance or don’t have a job that provides it, or the poor or working poor, who didn’t sign up for Medicaid or made too much for free insurance. Let’s be intellectually honest, ObamaCare/ACA has only covered 10 million of the supposed 50 million purported to be uninsured, and 80% of those are subsidized by taxes on the rest of us, so it hasn’t done much to fix the issue of uninsured Americans. The real issue is ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE, and even the uninsured have access. Perhaps they lack an insurance card, but they have access to free healthcare through clinics, charity and pro bono health care services provided by providers (free care given by hospitals and physicians). It’s difficult to not conclude that the ACA was entirely built on a lie.

eric Sarah and Tim’s example is closest to my own and I was going to complain about how unrealistic the mortgage and utilities would be for my area (someone below commented “assume 1% for property tax”, omg, I’m paying 1900 a month just the escrow portion to cover taxes and insurance). but then I decided that this is a guideline and I should see how to at least get close to that giving consideration to the high costs of my area. Ghost of Jam Master Jay I was offered a job in Chicago in the fall of 2014 that paid roughly $36,000. I turned it down because I did not consider this to be a sufficient living wage. Laura, I think you need to reconsider monthly expenses/fixed costs. I currently live in a major Midwestern city and my monthly expenses are about $1,900.00. That includes: rent split with a roommate, utilities (gas, water, electric), internet (no cable), Netflix, Spotify, student loan payments, dental insurance, cell phone bill, gas, and groceries. Every time I look at my budget planner, I almost puke. Nearly 60% of my income goes to fixed costs.

Every dentist appoint, doctor’s visit, car repair, etc. eats into my “fun money,” some of which is non-negotiable (weddings, Christmas gifts, holiday travel, etc.). Smith In the first part of this article you discuss that the Needs are fixed costs, and you describe the flexible spending as things that vary. You say that “gas” is a flexible item, yet in your second example, you put “gas” in to the “Needs” category. I’m trying to set up a budget like this, but I can’t seem to get a clear definition of what goes where? I have read several different blogs about this and none of them agree. Where does Credit Card debt fall. In many of these the “Student Loans” are part of the 20%, but the Car loan goes in the “Needs” section. I can’t seem to see where a credit card payment should go. Not all of us have the luxury of finding this budget before they acquire debt. Michael Chester Americans are overcharged for everything and underpaid. There are so many free sources of energy yet we have to pay the electric company and still use fossil fuels to power everything. Why do you think that is?

The banks and utility companies make billions a year. And instead of thinking outside the box for solutions what do we do. We argue with each other about how if your poor you shouldnt have children while they are laughing at us AJMoneyMatters Great article! Haven’t heard of this breakdown rule before but love it! Joe Ricketts Eye Test - The Eye Chart and 20/20 Vision Explained On this page: What "20/20" means • Tumbling E eye chart • Jaeger eye chart • Limitations During an eye test, eye doctors use eye charts to measure how well you see in the distance, compared with other human beings. If you haven't established an eye doctor yet, click here to find one near you. The classic example of an eye chart is the Snellen eye chart, developed by Dutch eye doctor Hermann Snellen in the 1860s. There are many variations of the Snellen eye chart, but in general they show 11 rows of capital letters. The top row contains one letter (usually the "big E," but other letters can be used). The other rows contain letters that are progressively smaller.

During an eye exam , your eye doctor will ask you to find the smallest line of text letters that you can make out, and ask you to read it. If you can read the bottom row of letters, your visual acuity is very good. What 20/20 Vision In An Eye Test Means In the United States, the standard placement of the eye chart is on a wall that's 20 feet away from your eyes. Since many eye doctors' offices don't have rooms that are 20 feet long, in a smaller room the eye chart may hang behind the patient chair, using mirrors to make it appear in front of you at a simulated distance of 20 feet. How a Snellen eye chart and a "tumbling E" chart might look at your eye doctor's office. The tumbling E chart tests the visual acuity of young children and others who can't read letters aloud. [Read more about children's eye exams .] 20/20 vision (or really, 20/20 visual acuity ) is considered "normal" vision, meaning you can read at 20 feet a letter that most human beings should be able to read at 20 feet.

Eye charts can be configured in various ways, but generally, if during an eye test you can read the big E at the top but none of the letters lower than that, your vision is considered 20/200. That means you can read at 20 feet a letter that people with "normal" vision can read at 200 feet. So at 20/200, your visual acuity is very poor. Recommended For You Save 10-30% off your eye exam using the BenefitsPal™ card In the United States you are considered " legally blind " if your best-corrected visual acuity (meaning, your best distance vision with eyeglasses or contact lenses) is 20/200 or worse. To get a driver's license in most of the United States, your best-corrected visual acuity must be at least 20/40. Usually the 20/20 line of letters is fourth from the bottom, with 20/15, 20/10 and 20/5 below that.

Not many people have 20/10 or better visual acuity, but many animals do, especially birds of prey, which have been estimated to have an acuity of 20/5 or even better. What is more important than your vision? Find local eye doctor to get an eye exam "Tumbling E" Eye Chart In some cases a standard Snellen eye chart cannot be used. One example is when the person having the eye test is a young child who doesn't know the alphabet or is too shy to read letters aloud. Other examples include when the person is illiterate or has a handicap that makes it impossible for him to cognitively recognize letters or read them aloud. In these situations, a modification of the Snellen eye chart called a "tumbling E" chart may be used. The tumbling E chart has the same scale as a standard Snellen eye chart, but all characters on the chart are a capital letter "E," in different spatial orientations (rotated in increments of 90 degrees). The eye doctor asks the person being tested to use either hand (with their fingers extended) to show which direction the "fingers" of the E are pointing: right, left, up or down.

Studies have shown that visual acuity measurements using a tumbling E chart are virtually the same as those obtained from testing with a standard Snellen eye chart. Download a Tumbling E eye chart and instructions for use here . Near Visual Acuity: The Jaeger Eye Chart To evaluate your near vision, your eye doctor may use a small hand-held card called a Jaeger eye chart. The Jaeger chart consists of short blocks of text in various type sizes. A Jaeger eye chart contains several blocks of successively smaller text, generally ranging in size from J10 (large print) to J1 (very small print). The original Jaeger eye chart was developed in 1867 and contained seven paragraphs, each printed in a successively smaller font size. The smallest paragraph you could read when holding the chart approximately 14 inches away determined your near visual acuity. Since then, there have been several modifications of the Jaeger chart (or "Jaeger card") by different manufacturers. Unfortunately, modern Jaeger charts are not standardized, and the actual letter sizes on different Jaeger cards might vary slightly.

The type scale on a modern Jaeger eye chart usually ranges from J10 (approximately 14-point type for Times New Roman font) to J1 (approximately 3-point type, Times New Roman). Some Jaeger charts have an additional paragraph labeled "J1+" that may be even smaller than the J1 block of text. The J1 paragraph on a Jaeger card typically is considered the near vision equivalent of 20/20 visual acuity on a distance eye chart. On some Jaeger cards, the J1+ paragraph is the 20/20 equivalent. Common newsprint generally ranges in size between J7 (10-pt type) and J10 (14-pt type), which are the equivalent of 20/70 and 20/100 on a distance eye chart. A Jaeger eye chart may be used in two different ways, depending on what your eye doctor is trying to measure: The chart is held at a specified reading distance (such as 14 inches) and you are asked to read the passage with the smallest type you can see. The chart is moved forward and back until you are able to read a certain type size.

Download a Jaeger near visual acuity chart and instructions for use here . Eye Chart Limitations Eye charts measure visual acuity only. They do help your eye doctor figure out whether you need prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses for your distance vision. And they help the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine if you are required to use eyewear for driving, or if you shouldn't drive at all because you are legally blind. Watch this video on what causes blurry vision and how we can correct it. But eye charts don't measure your peripheral vision , depth perception, color perception or ability to perceive contrast . And they don't measure items related to the health of your eyes, such as your eye fluid pressure , whether you have glaucoma, how dry your eyes are or whether your retinas are in good shape. So eye chart testing is just one component of a complete eye exam , which you should have every one or two years. Home » Eye Exams » Eye Tests and the Eye Chart References & Notes >> Schwiegerling, J. Field Guide to Visual and Ophthalmic Optics. SPIE Press. 2004. Can Jaeger numbers be standardized. ARVO Annual Meeting abstract. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

May 2007. Khurana, AK. Theory and Practice of Optics and Refraction. Elsevier India. 2008. [Page updated November 2016] Like This Page? Please Share! Recommended For You

Question: What is 20% of 50?
Answer: 10